A Chinese businessman's death in Bordeaux was bad enough; now someone wants to use it to scare away foreign château buyers

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Posted: Jan 14, 2014 11:00am ET

Lam Kok was
in Bordeaux in 2012 to sell tea. A businessman from Yunnan, China, Kok had made
millions through his firm the Brilliant Group by selling rare Pu'er tea and
operating luxury hotels. But according to people who met him two years ago at a
trade show on the Right Bank, he was captivated by the idea of owning a winery.
Before 2013 was over, he made his dream a reality, inking a sizable deal to
purchase Château La Rivière, a Fronsac estate with a gorgeous castle, 148 acres
of vines and historical roots in the 16th century.

Sadly, the
deal turned tragic. As my colleague Suzanne Mustacich reported, when Kok visited his new estate on
Dec. 20, seller James Gregoire offered to take him on a helicopter tour of the
property. A hunter saw the aircraft plunge into the frigid waters of the
Dordogne river shortly afterward. Gregoire, Kok, a local professor acting as
translator and Kok's son are all missing and presumed dead.

Now someone
has decided to take advantage of the tragedy. A group calling itself the
Agricultural Action Committee has sent a letter to a local newspaper and
numerous real-estate agents, claiming that Gregoire "paid with his life
for selling the vineyard to a foreign buyer exactly 10 days after we had warned
him not to." The letter goes on to threaten, "Those who sell to
foreigners, intermediaries and foreign buyers should expect to find themselves
at the bottom of a river or 6 feet under." Authorities are still
investigating the crash, but they say all signs point to an accident.

Exact numbers are difficult to pin down, but sources tell Wine Spectator that Chinese buyers purchased at
least 20 wine properties in 2013, which means more than 60 are now owned partly
or wholly by Chinese. It's a testament both to China's business boom
and the popularity of Bordeaux in the People's Republic. The growing wealthy
class sees châteaus as a sound investment while their own real-estate market is
inflated.

But in
times of trouble, people look for someone to blame. Europe's economic recovery
has lagged the rest of the world's. Unemployment is high, especially among
young people. Fear and frustration are rampant. Across the continent, some
politicians are running for office on a platform of ending the European Union,
of restricting cooperation with neighbors. A handful are inciting fear, turning immigrants and minorities
into scapegoats.

France has
recently been debating whether a comedian's stand-up act is free speech or an
incitement of anti-Semitism. On Jan. 10, the national council of state backed
several cities' ban on shows by Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, who makes fun of the
Holocaust on stage and used to lead a national "anti-Zionist" party.
His vocal fans have been photographed flashing his trademark gesture—a blend of
Nazi salute and obscene gesture—outside synagogues.

Clamping
down on free speech is never a good solution for dealing with people who take
advantage of fear. There are better ways to counteract their influence and
marginalize them.

Wine's
history holds endless examples of how globalization and the free exchange of
people and ideas leads to better success and prosperity. In the 12th century,
the city of Bordeaux was a sleepy port on France's southwest coast,
overshadowed by its more prosperous neighbor, La Rochelle. But in 1151, Eleanor
of Aquitaine married Henry II. Bordeaux now belonged to the English crown and
proved particularly loyal. Henry and his heirs made Bordeaux wine a staple at
the royal table and exempted it from trade duties.

The English
were just the first foreign investors in Bordeaux. Dutch traders came next,
buying the local white wines. Dutch engineers, who knew how to turn marsh into
dry land, drained the gravel soils of the Médoc. Waves of Irish and Germans,
whose names still appear generations later on lists of château and négociant
ownership, came next. A wealthy American bought Château Haut-Brion at the
height of the Great Depression.

The Chinese
have yet to buy a first-growth. In fact, the kind of properties they have been
buying are ones that have the greatest need for outside help these days—small
châteaus, not the big names that can sell futures for hefty prices. Many have
struggled financially, and the owners' children don't want to take over. They need
buyers with deep pockets who believe there is a future in Bordeaux beyond the
classified growths.

There will always be people who profit on fear. But any wine region that
shuts out foreigners condemns itself to isolation, stagnation and poverty.
After centuries of welcoming fresh blood, I suspect Bordeaux is too smart for
that.

Peter Hellman

New York, NY, USA — January 15, 2014 8:27am ET

This hoorah for openness and, yes, globalization of wine regions echoes what Aubert de Villaine, "pope" of Burgundy responded when asked if he was against the purchase of the Chateau de Gevrey-Chambertin by a Chinese millionaire. "He's not taking the chateau back to China," de Villaine said. And he pointed out that the derelict chateau would be much better restored by this buyer from the other side of the world than by more financially constrained locals.

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